Breath
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4.4 • 227 Ratings
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
Tim Winton's Breath, winner of the Miles Franklin Literary Award, is a story about the wildness of youth and learning to live with its passing.
When paramedic Bruce Pike is called out to deal with another teenage adventure gone wrong, he knows better than his colleague, better than the kid's parents, what happened and how. Thirty years before, that dead boy could have been him.
A relentlessly gripping and deeply moving novel about the damage you do to yourself when you're young and think you're immortal.
'It's unlikely Winton has ever written as well as he writes in Breath... Its seeming simplicity is deceptive, for beneath its pared-back surfaces lies all the steel of a major novelist operating at full throttle in a territory he has spent 25 years making his own.' James Bradley, The Age
'A novelist who, to a peerless degree, has learnt how to do it...Breath seems to cut through everything, and to speak with unusual honesty.' Philip Hensher, Spectator
'An absorbing, powerful and deeply beautiful novel, a meditation on surfing which becomes a rumination about the very stuff of existence.' Helen Gordon, The Observer
'This brilliant book may well turn out to be the finest thing that Winton has done.' Andrew Riemer, Sydney Morning Herald
'Breath is about moving out of your depth, getting in over your head, having your soul damaged beyond repair ...But against all this pointless sorrow, there remains the evanescent beauty of the world, and Winton matches that with limitlessly beautiful prose.' Carolyn See, Washington Post
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Few authors capture the rush and lure of the ocean like Tim Winton, who vividly brings the Western Australian coast to life. Breath follows the intense bond in the mid-’70s between a pair of teen friends nicknamed Pikelet and Loonie. Pikelet narrates the story of both his risk-taking youth and his less glamorous adult life as a paramedic and father. Contrasting dynamic and florid descriptions of surfing with clipped dialogue and blunt first-person insights, Winton’s novel—winner of the prestigious Miles Franklin Award—has been adapted into a movie by Aussie actor Simon Baker.
Customer Reviews
Excellent read
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Tim’s description of surfing is terrific. His description of his relationships is so real. The events he describes seem authentic and the way he ties the whole story together makes you want to read more.
Beautiful and raw
I loved this book - the ability of TW to write the sights, smell, touch and taste of the Australian coast - as well as the unnerving, real, awful and blunt power of the characters’ actions, emotions and the mess we make without knowing (or maybe knowing but not able to change course) made this un-put-downable. Wish I could read again for the first time.
Brilliant
Tim Winton writes with his usual clarity and insight. Two young boys fall under the spell of the charismatic and dangerous Sando, a big wave surfer. The story is about extremes and how we gone back from the brink. It’s a powerful story.